During the ship's career, she was deployed to South East Asia on 23 occasions, including operations during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and escort of the troopship HMAS Sydney to and from the Vietnam War.

[1][3] After spending time as guardship at Tawau, Derwent sailed to Bangkok in early 1965 to participate in multinational naval exercises under the South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO).

[1] In late May and early June, Derwent was one of four RAN ships providing escort for the troopship HMAS Sydney's fourth voyage to South Vietnam.

[1] June was spent working the ship up post-refit, and in July, Derwent visited New Zealand before sailing to South East Asia.

[1] In August, Derwent visited Brisbane, then was involved in the unsuccessful search for survivors of the Australian National Line merchant vessel Noongah.

[1] The ship sailed to Hawaii in September for exercises with the United States Navy, and also visited Nouméa, New Caledonia and the Marshall Islands before docking in Singapore for two weeks of maintenance.

[1] Derwent then sailed back to Sydney via Christmas Island and the west and south coasts of Australia, and arrived on 11 December.

[1] After spending the early part of 1971 on training exercises in Australian waters, Derwent sailed to South East Asia in June.

In late September, Derwent met Sydney en route to South Vietnam for the ship's twenty-second time, delivering a cargo of defence aid and recovering equipment and personnel from multiple units during 6 to 8 November.

[9] Derwent returned home late in the year, and visited multiple Australian ports before docking at Williamstown for refit.

[1] The refit continued until March 1972, and Derwent remained in Australian waters until August, when a four-month deployment to South East Asia commenced.

[1] February 1973 saw Derwent, Perth, and HMAS Supply deployed to the Indian Ocean for three months to show the flag.

[1] The ships visited ports in Mauritius, Kenya, Ethiopia, Iran, Bahrain, India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia.

[1] From July until late August, Derwent underwent maintenance, then visited New Zealand before spending the rest of the year exercising in Australian waters.

[1] Before leaving Australian waters, Derwent visited Darwin, with personnel sent ashore to help with demolition work of structures damaged by Cyclone Tracy that previous December.

[1] In addition to the usual round of exercises and port visits, Derwent performed bottom classification sonar scans in Sunda Strait in an attempt to locate the wreck of World War II cruiser Perth, and was used to portray the fictional British warship HMS Hero for Hong Kong filming of the BBC action/drama series Warship.

[1] During early 1980, Derwent joined HMA Ships Melbourne, Perth, Stalwart, and HMAS Supply on a flag-showing cruise in the Indian Ocean in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: the largest RAN task group deployment since World War II.

[1] On Derwent's return to Australia, she participated in exercises with visiting United States Navy ships, and escorted the First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage as it entered Fremantle.

[1] After maintenance at ASI concluded in March 1991, Derwent undertook exercises until November, when she deployed to South East Asia.

[1] In March 1994, Derwent was deployed to South East Asia for the 23rd and final time, with visits to the Philippines, Singapore, the Andaman Islands, Brunei, and Malaysia.

[1][10] The ship's 4.5-inch (110 mm) gun turret was preserved, having been placed at the Rockingham Naval Memorial Park, opposite HMAS Stirling.